


Behind the Face

by Waldo



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode Related, Episode Tag, Episode: 02e13 Critical Mass, First Date, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-02
Updated: 2006-04-02
Packaged: 2017-10-06 11:39:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waldo/pseuds/Waldo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if painting Radek's face wasn't a cute little prank?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind the Face

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/sgarareathon/profile)[**sgarareathon**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/sgarareathon/)'s recent challenge. This is for [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/shiny_starlight/profile)[**shiny_starlight**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/shiny_starlight/) who wanted to see _a Zelenka/Lorne, either a first time fic or or a "Radek gets kidnapped by aliens and Lorne goes all crazy to get him back' fic. _. This is a little bit of both, and hopefully serves.
> 
> Story updated to reflect that we now have a canon first name for Lorne. (5.03.09)

_"Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it?"_ \- Pablo Picaso

 

Radek beat a path out of the infirmary as soon as Carson cleared him. He was hoping that if he moved fast enough he could get back to his quarters and into the shower before too many people saw him.

But of course, nothing had gone right for him in the past three days, why should they start now? First it was McKay and his "Mr. Mom" remark and then it was Colonel Sheppard, who had the grace not to say anything, but hadn't waited for Radek to get far enough down the hall before bursting out laughing.

He was pretty sure Rodney thought the face painting was just a harmless prank played on him by children with little to do and no one to mind them. And for now he'd continue to let him think that, because explaining the truth was more than he was ready to deal with at the moment. The idea of facing Rodney who would, no doubt, simply begin listing the dozens of times he'd been in mortal peril himself actually turned his stomach. Maybe Rodney had been in closer calls and more often, but that was the reason he was on an off-world team and Radek wasn't. That was the reason Rodney was much more versed in weapons training and hand to hand combat and all of the skills he'd _wished_ he'd had on this last hell-in-a-handbasket mission.

He leaned his head against the shower wall and sighed, letting the hot water pound on his shoulders. He expected to see traces of green and orange and brown in the shower water where it pooled at his feet, but it ran clear. He tilted his head up and closed his eyes, scrubbing at the paints with his hands.

The water still ran clear, and his hands remained unstained.

He grabbed a washcloth and the soap and scrubbed again. This time he could see little smears of color on the cloth, but he was sure that all he'd done was make an Esherian mess of swirls out of the damn designs. He let his head fall back to the wall. Now he'd need to go back down to the infirmary to see if Carson had something that would get this damn paint off him, opening himself to even more taunts and comments. He banged his head into the wall a half dozen times.

"You okay in there?"

The voice startled him and Radek jumped back, nearly slipping on the wet floor, only catching himself by grabbing the showerhead. "Who's there?" he yelled, reaching around the shower curtain, groping along the sink for his glasses.

A gentle hand caught his wrist, handing him his glasses by the temple so he wouldn't smudge the lenses. "Sorry to scare you, but it's just me."

Radek blinked through his lenses, feeling a fool for having only the shower curtain around him. "My apologies, Major Lorne. I wasn't exactly expecting anyone." He tried not to sound accusatory, but he couldn't figure out what would bring the major not only to his quarters, but into his bathroom while he was in the shower.

"Yeah, I know, but Doctor B. said you ran out of the infirmary so fast he wasn't able to give you the stuff to get that junk off your face. He asked me to drop it off. And I didn't think you'd want to wait." Lorne shrugged. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone in Atlantis was military and that community showers weren't _de rigueur_ for the civilians.

Radek dropped his head and took the small bottle from Lorne. "Oh. Thank you. You are… quite correct. I am sorry for my temper." Radek ducked back into the shower only realizing that he still had his glasses on when they fogged up. He sighed and took them off, reaching around to set them down. He was only half-surprised when Lorne took them from him.

Without his glasses and without a mirror, Radek was sure he was only doing a half-ass job of using the oily cleaner to get the paint off his face. Finally giving up, he scrubbed the rest of his body, pulled the little strings out of his hair and washed it as best he could and turned off the water.

Lorne wasn't in the bathroom when he reached over to get his towel, and he was fairly grateful for that. He dried off and tied the towel around his waist. When he went into the living area of his quarters he found the major sitting on his bed, waiting. Radek raised an eyebrow, "You are still here."

Lorne shrugged. "I thought maybe you'd need some help getting the rest of that stuff off."

Radek grabbed a pair of sweats out of the dresser and pulled them on under the towel feeling very self-conscious around the other man. Even Colonel Sheppard had called him skinny more than once, and if Sheppard felt justified in making those kinds of remarks, then there was probably something to them. Normally he didn't care. But as he pulled on a t-shirt he realized that it mattered whether or not Lorne would find him lacking. Maybe it was because of what they'd just been through. Maybe he worried that Lorne would start thinking that he was as useless in the field – possibly moreso – than McKay. He wondered if he'd start bad-mouthing him to the other scientists he escorted the way he ragged on Rodney while they'd been together. For some reason that idea depressed him.

"Come on, let's get that stuff off you," Lorne said as Radek stood there trying to figure out what to do with himself. Lorne propelled him back into the bathroom with a hand between the shoulders, "Here, sit on the counter," he suggested when Radek started looking a little dizzy. "You okay?"

Radek nodded, taking his glasses off again. "Just tired. Are you not?"

Lorne grabbed a clean cloth from the pile on the shelf and soaked the end of it in the cleaner Carson had given him. He put one hand on the back of Radek's head to hold him still and began scrubbing the red and green smudge on his neck. "I think I'm still buzzing from the adrenaline. Those little bastards are tougher than they look."

Radek smiled at that. He'd thought it was just him. "They really are." He didn't mention that it didn't help his case that several of these children were at least six inches taller than he was and far more agile than he'd ever been.

Radek let himself relax for the first time in three days as Lorne tilted his head this way and that and finally rid him of the last of the Marks of the Sacrificed. Once back to the color he was supposed to be he washed his face in the sink to rinse off the oily residue. When he looked back up, Lorne was still standing there watching him. Ten minutes ago he'd felt awkward and skittish about the way he seemed to have the man's attention, but now it was just mildly embarrassing. Somewhat warming too.

"I have beer," he offered when he realized he didn't want the man to go.

"Beer sounds like an excellent idea," Lorne said as they moved back into the living area. He took a seat at the table while Radek retrieved and opened the beers. Once Radek was seated, he held his bottle up for a toast, "To making it back alive and well." He tilted his head like he was considering his next words before finally adding, "And to friendship."

Radek smiled and clinked their bottles together. "To friendship," he echoed.

They sat silently for a moment before Radek finally sighed and said, "No one is going to believe our reports."

"They'll believe it. Or I'll kick their ass," Lorne told him with a smile. "I know it sounds stupid – captured by a band of children – and it looked worse, given that you came home painted like a china teacup. But when they realize that they were going to sacrifice you because they were afraid we were there to steal the ZPM…" Lorne shook his head and lowered his voice, "I was pretty afraid we wouldn't find you in time. That little camp was pretty well hidden."

Without realizing he was doing it, Radek reached over and took Lorne's hand in his. "But you did. And now, thanks to you, I am safe. And also thanks to you, I am _clean_." He smiled, hoping to get one in return. He did and it warmed him through and through.

They sat quietly for a while, drinking their beers and watching the sun set outside the window. Radek's laugh broke the silence. "You know, I owe you my life and I do not even know your name." He realized like he sounded like something out of a bad movie. "Your first name, I mean."

Lorne smiled. "Evan," he told him. "Not that anyone around here uses it."

Radek nodded, feeling rebuffed. "Oh, I was not trying to be personal."

"No, no that's not what I meant. I mean, use it if you want. I'm just saying no one else does. Military people usually don't and since that's who I spend most of my time with…" He cut himself off when he realized he was babbling. "Seriously, I'd like it if you did."

Radek just smiled and went and pulled two more beers from the fridge. "I put chairs on the balcony, if you want to sit out there with these."

Lorne got up and followed him out. As they sat down with their beers Lorne decided to test the waters. "Hey, I've got a question for you: Do you think Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Beckett are involved?"

Radek raised an eyebrow. "I did not think it was politic for United States military to discuss such things."

Lorne shrugged. "It'd be one thing if I were _his_ superior or if I was planning on getting him in trouble or something, but… basically I'm just gossiping. Being nosey."

"Oh, in that case. Yes, I think. McKay made some comment the other day that they two of them needed to get a room."

Lorne laughed. "I was just curious. Sometimes when I see them together, I just get this impression… not that either one of them would ever do anything inappropriate in public."

"Apparently they did something in front of Rodney that _he_ thought was inappropriate," Radek answered.

"Yeah, well, let me tell you what I think of McKay's ability to judge appropriate and inappropriate behavior," Lorne said.

"You do not need to," Radek assured him. "I think perhaps he was jealous."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Lorne told him. "Well, good for them. We're kind of a long way from home. It's nice to think that when you go off on a mission you have someone to come back to."

Radek nodded. "It is good to have someone special in your life for any reason."

Lorne couldn't help but notice that Radek sounded wistful.

The sun had almost set and the balcony was starting to get cool as they fell silent again. After a while Radek stood and leaned on the balcony, staring down into the black water.

Lorne sat and watched him for a while. Their easy camaraderie seemed to be slipping away and Radek was becoming visibly agitated before his eyes. "You okay?" he asked moving to stand close behind him, one hand on Radek's shoulder, the other on the railing.

"I'm afraid to close my eyes," he confessed quietly without looking away from the last sliver of sunlight.

Lorne slid closer to him, both of his hands on Radek's shoulders. "I could stay."

Radek turned and looked at him, clearly both surprised and pleased by the suggestion.

"It's not like my boss is in much of a position to object." Lorne explained.

Radek found a small smile for him. "I think I would like that, then. As long as you are sure there will not be trouble for you."

Lorne shrugged. "I'm not worried about it." He pulled Radek in, his hands making a loose circle around his waist.

"In that case, I would like that very much."


End file.
